T h e N e w L e t t e r i s . . . B Which stands for Berger, as in Dan Berger. Krassimira and I were lucky enough to have Dan Berger and Juliann Savage over to dine. And it was a lovely evening. There were many reasons it was fun. One of the reasons is it turned out that Dan's opinion of what Pinot Noir should be to be good and great is what our opinion is. Not too much extraction, not too much color, no oak that sticks out, no enzyme use, a sense of style, having a sense of place, and the wine having the ability to tell a story. And oh-my-goodness, did we tell the stories. Many of them were about food, and it was another pleasure to find that the four of us had philosophical agreement that the wine is not the end-game: it is the presence of thoughtfully prepared food, enjoyed with glasses of wine and cups of water, all while basking in conversational stimulation. That is more like the end-game. And no matter what anyone's philosophical bent is, they would have had to report that all four of us thoroughly enjoyed all the wines. We tasted 5 AHH's and 1 OOH: the 2003 Bien Nacido, barrels #1 and #3, the Brickhill Vineyard Saddle East and Entrance Hill blocks, and the Pinot du Jour, Lot #34. And then we had the 2003 Brut Zero Sparkling Syrah with the appetizer. That wine was thought to be fun, refreshing, very good, and quite interesting. I can't say the any of us had a stand-out favorite, which is nice because that means they were all good. But Krassimira and I did take delight in Dan's recognition that the Saddle East Block is going to bottle age into a gorgeous creature. So until we have the pleasure again... Next Page |
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